‘It was a holiday for players!’ Broos reveals a sad state of affairs

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has revealed that players did not take the national team call-up seriously.

The Belgian took over as the South Africa head coach in May 2021, a couple of months after the then-coach Molefi Ntseki had failed to help the team qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in the same year.

He has since helped the country deliver in football; in the 2023 AFCON, Mzansi finished third in the tournament that was held in the Ivory Coast.

However, the most recent achievement was to take Mzansi to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first time the nation will be competing in the global scene since 2010, when they hosted it.

The 73-year-old tactician has now explained how the situation was when he arrived and how it is currently.

Players are working for each other

“When I came here, players treated the national team like a holiday. They came for a week, had fun, trained a little, and went back to their clubs. That changed. I told them this is not a holiday, it’s work,” Broos told the media.

“You need players with quality, the right attitude, and the hunger to achieve. That’s how you build a team. No presents, no gifts, you have to earn everything. They work for each other. If one makes a mistake, the other corrects it. That’s how champions play.

“We’ve come from being doubted to being respected across Africa. The players now believe they belong on the big stage,” he concluded.

The immidiate assignment is the 2025 AFCON that will be played in Morocco from December 21.